Last Update: February 04, 2023, 14:00 IST
In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said, the government’s excuse of abolishing Maulana Azad National Fellowship and subsidy for education loan to minority students to study abroad is completely irrational and arbitrary. (file photo)
Even accepting that there are “overlapping” schemes, is fellowship and subsidy to minority students the only scheme that overlaps with any other scheme, asked the former Union finance minister
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday attacked the Center for discontinuing the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, alleging that the government is on an “excessive drive” to make life more difficult for students from minority communities.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha earlier this week, Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani had said, “Since the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) scheme overlaps with various fellowship schemes for higher education, the government has It has been decided to discontinue the MANF scheme. -23.”
In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said, “The government’s excuse for scrapping the Maulana Azad National Fellowship and subsidizing education loans for minority students to study abroad is grossly irrational and arbitrary.”
Even accepting that there are “overlapping” schemes, are fellowships and subsidies for minority students the only schemes that overlap with any other scheme, the former Union finance minister asked.
“MNREGA overlaps PM Kisan. In the case of older workers, the old age pension overlaps with MGNREGA. There are dozens of such overlapping schemes,” Chidambaram said.
He alleged that the government was acting swiftly to make life more difficult for minority students.
“The government is openly displaying its anti-minority policy as if it is a badge of honour. Shame on you,” the Congress leader said on Twitter.
In response to her question in the Lok Sabha, Irani had also said that the coverage under the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme has been revised from 2022-23 and is applicable only for classes 9 and 10. Education The (RTE) Act, 2009, provides for free and compulsory elementary education (classes 1 to 8) to every child.
He had said that this amendment has also been done to harmonize the scheme with similar scholarship schemes implemented by other Central Government Ministries.
Irani, in her reply, had said, ‘As of now, there is no proposal to restore/reinstate these schemes.’
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)